Vine Deloria, Jr. (1933–2005)

I am a strong proponent of people reading two of Deloria's other works, Custer Died For Your Sins and Red Earth White Lies. Whether or not you agree with his philosophy, these books are insightful, thought-provoking, and illuminating of underrepresented ideas that bolster all of our views on the world. I didn't find the same level of thought (philosophically or pragmatically) in this book. With limited hours in the day, I suggest people focus on his classics, his magnum opus, instead. Engage with his work as a whole - he is a thinker worth engaging.… (mehr)

Drawing heavily on examples in early writings from anthropologists and missionaraies, among others, Deloria builds his case for spiritual abilitie of 'medicine men' (and women) carefully, devoting separate chapters to receiving powers through dreams, healings they conduct, their communications with other species (animals, plants), relations to the land (sacred stones) and universe (eg affecting weather, sun movement). All this leads Deloria to acknowledge their being able to work with space, time, and matter in a manner that fits into the newer physics of quantum energy rather than into Newtonian-based understanding most people have of how the world works in our daily lives.
One aspect the reader may notice upon reading the exerpts which range from 1600's to 1900's, tho not explicitly mentioned, is how the attitude of the whites has changed from attributing powers as being from Satan, to suspecting chicanery, to desire to grasp these powers for themselves.… (mehr)